Indicating-switch.



R; G. BROWNE.

INDIGATING SWITCH.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV.19', 1906f Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

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RALPH C. BROWNE, 0F SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BROWNE APPARATUS COMPANY, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

INDICATING-SWITCI-I.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH C. BRowNE, of i Salem, 1n the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicating- Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means for readily determining the action taking place during the operation of an electric switch, particularly of the so-called inclosed or snap pattern, as it is frequently desirable to know whether the circuit to which the switch is attached has been opened or closed by the operation of the said switch, especially when said circuit connects with lights or instruments distant or obscured from the operator.

Various devices comprising dials having figures printed upon them have been manufactured from time to time, but they are unsatisfactory as the figures upon them can be read'wit-h difiiculty in the light and not at all in a dark place such as is commonly selected as a location for such switches. This being the case, it is evident that an indicating switch to be successful and always ready to give warning and fulfill its purpose must depend upon some other agency than light for transmitting its signals to the operator. I therefore in accordance with my invention cause the switch mechanism to give forth an audible sound when the circuit is opened or closed as desired, distinctly different than the sound incidental to the movementof the several parts of the mechanism when fulfilling its opposite action. This result I attain by causing the switch mechanism to vibrate a sonorous body, thereby creating sound waves in the surrounding atmosphere. The time of emitting said sound waves should correspond with the opening or-cl0sing of the switch as desired.

The sonorous body may be made of various materials and in various forms depend ing upon the requirements of the particular switch to which it is attached. I prefer to utilize metal in a bell or dome shaped form, as it is not only an efficient vibrator emitting strong ringing tones, but also lends itself admirably to the purpose of a cover for protecting the switch mechanism from mechanical injury, dust, dirt, etc.

In the drawings, I have not endeavored to show all the various ways in which my in- Specifieation of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 19, 1906.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Serial No. 343,959.

vention may be incorporated in a switch mechanism, or the various styles of switches to which it may be attached, but have taken a simple type of switch as an example and shown a simple mode of attaching my signaling device.

It is evident that the invention need not be incorporated into the switch mechanism at the time of manufacture, but may be a separately formed device adapted to be attached to a switch already completed.

Referring to the drawings,-Figure 1 shows the essential parts of a simple form of my indicating switch, the switch being shown as closed. Fig. 2 shows the switch in open position. Fig. 3 rep-resents a perspective view of the exterior of the switch, the interior mechanism being illustrated in dotted lines.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

()n the drawings, A represents the blade of a switch, so arranged that it may be moved from the closed position shown in Fig. l in contact with the terminals L L,'to the open position as in Fig. 2 at right angles to them, and vice versa, by the movement of the knob B (shown in Fig. The blade A is so aflixed to the shaft or spindle C of the knob B that its movement from one position to the other is sudden regardless of the speed at which the knob B is turned. This sudden movement is brought about through the agency of the coiled spring D. which is so arranged and related to the other moving parts that a considerable tension is brought to bear upon the blade A, before it leaves its normal position of rest which may be either in connection with the terminals L L or at right angles to them as in F 1 and 2.

Only the essential parts of a switch mechanism have been shown, as the invention may be adapted to practically any form and type of switch. The drawings are made for the purpose of explanation and not of limitation.

In a switch of this pattern the object of my invention may be accomplished by causing the blade A to encounter a movable ham mer E when passing from the closed position (Fig. 1) to the open position (Fig. 2),

also shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. As it encounters the hammer E with considerable force, the hammer is in turn thrown against the inner surface of the bell shaped cover F hinged or held that it is capable of receiv- (see dotted position in Fig. 2), from which it immedately rebounds taking the full line position shown in Fig. This action is sufficient to cause the sonorous cover F to be thrown into a vibrating state and emit a sharp clear sound. Upon the switch being returned to the closed position (Fig. 1), the hammer E is returned to its former position by a spring G on which it is supported, but, of course, without contacting with the sonorous cover. The result of this is that the rotary member of the switch successively takes its different positions (open or closed) the sounding device will be operated at each alternate position of the rotary memher. In other words, the sounding device will be alternately operated and left silent as the rotary member passes successively through positions of the open, closed, open, etc. Therefore the user of the device can determine whether a distant electrical device, such as a lamp, has its circuit made or broken, although that distant device is not in sight.

In Fig. 3 a complete switch thus equipped is illustrated. The bell shaped sonorous cover'is shown at F and the base of instrument at H. The interior arrangement of the mechanism is shown by dotted lines.

The hammer E may be made of insulating material or of metal according to the arrangement of the various parts of the switch to which it is attached and should be so 111g energy in the form of a blow and trans mitting it in turn to the sounding body.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is 1- v 1. The combination with a rotary snap switch having means whereby the rotary member may be left in either one of a plurality of positions, of an audible signal, and mechanical connections whereby said signal will be sounded only on alternate actuations of said rotary member.

2. An indicating snap switch, comprising a rotary arbor, terminals, a sonorous body, and means carried by said arbor to both connect the terminals and cause the sonorous body to emit an audible signal.

3. An indicating snap switch comprising a base, a bell shaped cover therefor, a hammer and terminals mounted within said cover, and a rotary arbor projecting through said cover and having its inner end provided with means for both connecting the terminals and actuating the hammer.

In testimony whereof I have afiiXed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

RALPH C. BROTVNE. \Vitnesses H. L. ROBBINS, A. L. FOLSOM.

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